Search This Blog

Sunday, 10 December 2023

Charlotte's Travel Adventures - 2024 Calendar

During my digital marketing internship in Malta, I was introduced to the tool Canva, which I used on a daily basis for tasks such as image research and creating presentations. It's really easy to use and you can create so many different types of document with it, which is why I've continued using it outside of work. One idea I had back in May when I used it for the first time, was to create travel-themed calendars that I could share on this blog.

My initial idea was to make several calendars inspired by different places: South America, Europe, Chile, Malta, Santiago, London, and the Cotswolds... and possibly more! However, it's been a really busy couple of weeks, and I've only managed to make the South America one. But that doesn't matter, as I can always make the others in future years!

So, you can find my "official" calendar for 2024 at this link here: Charlotte's Travel Adventures - South America Calendar. Hope you enjoy the pictures for each month!




Sunday, 3 December 2023

UNESCO World Heritage Sites - Updated! Plus General News

Hi travelling readers!

It has been a busy time for me - I have just finished working 12 straight days over the Black Friday/Cyber Monday period - and to be honest, it's been a busy year in general. But even though I haven't been posting as much recently, I've still been working on the blog when I can.

This week, I've updated my UNESCO World Heritage Sites post that I first published in 2021, adding all of the sites that I've visited over the last couple of years. That includes my 15 months living in South America and my 3 months in the Mediterranean, so there are some interesting and varied places that have been added to my collection! Check out the updated post here!

Life hasn't been quite as exciting lately as it was in the first seven or eight months of the year, but the good news is that that will change soon. Claudio is arriving in England within the coming days, and to make things even better, we've got a trip planned! We're going to be visiting three countries within a week, all of which are new to Claudio and one of which is new to me, so we're really looking forward to it. I've already started learning a new language on Duolingo, which I always find fun!

I may publish a post next week if I have time, but if not, I'll be back at some point after Christmas with some European travel adventures!

Joyeux Noël & Vrolijk Kerstfeest!



Recent additions to my UNESCO World Heritage Sites list from left to right, starting from top left: Greenwich Park, London, UK; Machu Picchu, Peru; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Church of San Francisco, Castro, Chile; Valletta, Malta; The Greek Theatre of Syracuse, Italy

Saturday, 18 November 2023

Life in Bristol: Update 1

Like I did when I was living in Chile, I'm going to write some posts about life in Bristol while I'm here. I've already seen quite a few interesting places around the city and beyond, and so it makes sense to put them on this blog.

So far I have mixed feelings about living here. I like my job - although it's not that similar to what I was doing at the marketing agency I worked at in Malta, it's within the general area of marketing. I work in the French market and get to use my French every day, which I'm really happy about. My colleagues are also really nice, and I enjoy my days in the office, which is located in quite a picturesque part of the city.

But I guess I just didn't really imagine myself ending up in Bristol - a city less than an hour away from where I grew up - after having lived in different places around the world. I had hopes of getting a job somewhere on the continent after my internship in Malta, but there weren't that many opportunities available that were suitable for me and my experience. Although I did get an interview for a job in Berlin, I realised during said interview that it wasn't really what I was looking for, and I didn't go further in the application process anyway.

When I was offered my current job, I was given the choice of working in London, Bristol or fully remotely, and although my heart wanted London, I went with my head and chose Bristol, based on the fact that my salary would have been the same in both cities. Besides, I'd always liked Bristol, and considered it to be my 3rd favourite city in England, after London and Bath

My Nana and my two great aunties all lived in the Bristol area, and I always enjoyed coming to visit them and found it entertaining to drive into and through the city. Going towards the city from the M32, you pass the Dower House (a big yellow castle), the interestingly-designed BT Tower, the Shah Jahal Jame Mosque, which looks like a Middle Eastern palace, and finally some colourful and very Nordic-looking apartment buildings. And then as you go through the city itself, you encounter some of the best street art on the planet, and more interesting and colourful buildings, which look like they could come from various places around the world. I always particularly liked going past the Bristol Royal Infirmary with its colourful rings! It was also nice to visit the area where my Nana lived, which has a little castle monument and a row of white houses that look like they're from a Greek island.

So I thought that I would like living in Bristol more than I have so far. While I like some parts of the city, I'm finding it a bit grim and depressing at times. It also feels like a bit of a setback to have gone from living in a really nice apartment with my partner on the other side of the world just over six months ago, and spending the summer working in the Mediterranean, to now be living in a flatshare in a city near where I grew up, at 28 years of age.

So I don't really see myself being here in the long-term. But it hasn't been all bad! I have visited some nice places in and around the city over the last couple of months, and I'm going to share them here today...


The Centre and Harbourside

This part of the city, with its tall townhouses and many boats, looks like it could be located somewhere like the Netherlands or the Nordic countries.













Bag of Nails

I've been to several cat cafés but this is the first ever cat pub I've been to! When my friend Sophie came to visit me in Bristol, we went for a drink here and loved seeing the adorable kitties!






The Clifton Suspension Bridge

The Clifton Suspension Bridge is definitely the most iconic sight to see in Bristol. I had been across it in the car, but had never had the chance to have a proper look at it before. So, I went on a walk there a couple of weeks after arriving in Bristol, and crossed the bridge on foot. The views of the Avon Gorge below are really incredible, and to make things even better, I met a lovely cat sitting next to the bridge!

There is a free museum on the other side of the bridge, in the village of Leigh Woods in Somerset, which was interesting to visit. It has lots of information about how the bridge was designed and built - it's amazing how complex it is.










Batida Restaurant

I went to this Latin American restaurant with my parents when they dropped me back in Bristol one day, and we all really liked it. It has some great Mexican and Argentinian food, super nice décor, and very catchy Latin music! Going there was a nice reminder of my times living in that part of the world. 😊









Castle Park

My partner Claudio encouraged me to go to this park, as it was a place he saw on the Chilean travel programme City Tour on Tour. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a castle anymore (the park is built on the ruins of Bristol Castle) but it's a very picturesque park. Here you can find St Peter's Church, which was bombed during World War II. There are also some nice views over the river, which also remind me a bit of continental Europe.









Cabot Tower and Brandon Hill Park

Another iconic place to visit in Bristol is Cabot Tower, which is located in Brandon Hill Park. This tower is 32 metres high and over a hundred years old. It's quite a claustrophobic climb to get up to the viewing points near the top of the tower (there's a second, even narrower staircase that goes right to the top, but I didn't feel brave enough for it!), but the views from the top across the rest of the city are quite spectacular.












Bath

One of the nice things about living in Bristol is that it's right next to Bath, so it's easy to pop over there for a day trip or a few hours. I met up with my parents there a couple of weeks ago for a bit of shopping and lunch, and afterwards I went on a big walk around the city. Bath's always been one of my favourite places to explore, and spending a day there really was a nice escape from the worries of everyday life.


















Severn Beach

Another thing I like about living in Bristol is the suburban railway that goes between Severn Beach and Bristol Temple Meads. There's a station on the line that's about a five minute walk from where I'm living, so it's easy for me to get to Bristol Temple Meads and then on towards other places. But a couple of weeks ago, I decided to go to the other end of the line and visit Severn Beach. It is more of a stretch of mud and pebbles next to the Severn Estuary rather than an actual "beach", but it was good to be out somewhere more peaceful and rural. I enjoyed seeing the two Severn Bridges, looking across to Wales on the other side, and seeing all the cute dogs out for their Sunday afternoon walk!

Between the 1920s and the 1960s, Severn Beach was actually a very popular summer holiday destination for people in the local area. As it's not exactly an area where you can swim and sunbathe, they built a massive swimming pool, a fun fair, and many hotels and cafés. But once more and more people started to get their own cars, they began going on holiday further afield, and Severn Beach became much less popular. Now there isn't much there anymore in the way of entertainment.

However, there is a nice café called Shirley's Café, where I went after my long walk for a vegan chocolate cake and a mug of tea! It was a nice, retro kind of place (with a cute dog next door!) and I'll definitely try to go back at some point.

















Some other nice buildings and places I've seen around Bristol!


















Overall, it has been hard to adjust to life in Bristol, and I think the cold, dark weather we're having at the moment definitely isn't helping. But there are things to like about living here - I don't know how long I'll stay here, but I'm going to try to make the best of it. 😊